Where the Sea Meets the Land
by Queen of Faerie
Summary: Elementals are magical creatures, half humans born from an element. Draco is a sailor, Hermione is a Waterling. They should have never met, but one day they cross paths and the love that blossoms is a consuming one. But what happens when a price is put on Hermione's head and Draco is chosen to hunt her down? AU fic.
1. The Beginning

_Prologue_

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_"Mama!" Draco screamed. The fair haired four year old was running around the house at at top speed, tripping over his long pants in his haste to reach his mother. _

_"Mama!" He screamed again._

_"Yes, Draco?" A weary women with long pale hair turned around to look at her son where he stood in the kitchen doorway._

_"Story time?" grey eyes looked imploringly at her as she stood up from the stool. Narcissa sighed "Can't you wait a while? I still have to wash the dishes."_

_When the little boy continued to stare imploringly , Narcissa sighed and took him by the hand to lead him into the bedroom._

_Once he was inside the room, the boy ran to the wooden bookshelf that stood in the corner of the small room. He stood on his tiptoes and reached up for a large book on the top shelf. He barely managed to use the tips of his fingers to pull the tome closer the edge of the shelf before pulling it off the bookcase. He caught it on his chest with an 'oomph'. He shifted it in his arms before scurrying over to his mother, who was sitting on the edge of his bed with a gentle smile on her face._

_He placed the book carefully on the edge of the bed before climbing on._

_"I still don't know how you haven't tired of this, it's just our history." Narcissa smiled as she reclined against the pillows, making sure the small candelabra on the side table was out of the way._

_Draco shrugged. He snuggled closer as his mother opened the book and start to read._

_"Once upon a time, four shooting stars fell out of the sky. One star fell onto the ground, one into the sea, one into a fire and one onto a cloud. Each of those elements nurtured the stars, and born from those stars were four Elementals."_

_Draco leaned closer to get a better look at the words._

_"From the star that fell onto the ground emerged an Earthling. He had golden sun kissed skin, stag ears instead of human ones, and strong antlers adorned his head. His eyes were large and fur soft as a deer's lined his arms and legs._

_"From the star that fell onto a cloud a Windling sprang forth. Her skin was pale as the moon and shimmered like the stars themselves. Her hair was pale as freshly fallen snow, and it floated around her in the slightest breeze. Protruding from her back were a pair of beautiful ivory wings, and the same shade of ivory feathers that encased her wings adorned the crown of her head._

_"From the star that fell into the fire a Fireling was born. He was dark, with hair that glowed like the embers of a dying fire. His eyes were bright, and flickered like sparks from a roaring bonfire._

_"Sea! Star in the sea!" Draco exclaimed, bouncing on the bed. Narcissa chuckled before continuing._

_"From the star that fell into the sea originated a Waterling. She had the upper body of a women, but instead of legs she had an incandescent fish tail that glimmered when she sprang out of the waves. She was pale, with lips the color of coral and hair dark as the deepest depths of the ocean."_

_Draco made grabbing motions and turned the page, almost ripping it in the process._

_Narcissa carefully smoothed out the winkles in the cornered before continuing._

_"The Elementals grew in numbers and variety. Earthlings were adorned with antlers, hooves, fur, ears, tails and many more magnificent animal characteristics. Fireling's hair would glow different colors, red and yellow like the bonfires and candles, and blue, indigo and violet like the sky-fire that wavered at night. The tips of the Windlings feathers varied from light blue to rose pink to the purest of ivory, and the seas were full of Waterlings with tails of every shade of color from the rainbow."_

_Draco leaned closer to the book, his nose almost pressing against the paper. The page was full of beautifully drawn and painted Elementals. There were pictures of Earthlings with claws, scales and fur dancing through the forest. Drawings of Windlings with their wings spread, flying in the breeze. Depictions of Firelings coaxing flames to life, hair glowing softly. But Draco ignored all of those, instead, he was staring at the pictures of the Waterlings._

_The book showed them swimming beneath the foamy waves of the sea, their tails different shades of blue, green, purple, red and yellow. Their long hair floated in the water, swirling around them._

_Draco sighed, tracing the tail of one of the Waterlings. "So pretty."_

_Narcissa smiled and tenderly pushed a curl of of his face before continuing._

_"The Elementals and the human lived in harmony for many years, the Waterlings kept the seas calm, the Earthlings grew trees for timber and homes, the Windlings whispered important messages on the wind and the Firelings coaxed fires to life for warmth. The two races worked in harmony."_

_Draco smiled briefly before turning strangely serious and placing a small palm on the pages of the book. "No more."_

_Narcissa nodded and closed the book. She understood why he didn't want to hear the rest. The last pages of the history book talked about the end of the rein of King Snape and the beginning of Queen Bellatrix's. Bellatrix legalized the hunting of Elementals. She demanded that they be hunted for their beautiful qualities._

_Firelings were run down for their softly glowing hair, Earthlings hunted for their animal qualities, Waterlings harpooned for their scales and Windlings shot down for their wings._

_They had almost been hunted to extinction._

_Draco pulled her put of her musings when he wriggled out of her hold to bury himself in the blankets._

_"I want to meet one."_

_Narcissa picked up the candelabra walked over to the door._

_"One day, my little dragon, one day"_

_And with a smile, she blew out the candle and closed the door, leaving the fair haired boy to dream of incandescent tails splashing in the sea._

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A/N: Okay, so this is my first time writing a multichapter story. Those of you who follow me know that I mostly write oneshots that lean towards some more shady themes. I'm trying my best to write ahead and I'll try not to neglect it but I'm really not used to updating regularly so don't sue me if I forget, 'kay? This is just the prologue, I just wanted to give some basic information, next chapter will have more action. Anyways, if you have any questions just drop me a PM or a review, and even if you don't have one tell me your thoughts anyways, it'd appreciate it deeply :)

See you soon,

Queen of Faerie


	2. The Black Pearl

A pair of seagulls cried as they flew overhead. Draco stood at the bow of _The Black Pearl_, his stormy grey eyes scanning the horizon. It was still early, and the heavy morning mist had yet to evaporate, but Draco took his duty as captain very seriously, and woke early every morning to make sure everything was in order.

"Whasha doin' up sho early?" Draco looked behind him to see Theo stumbling up onto deck.

Theo was one of Draco's crew, and also one of this closest friends. Draco had found him wandering the streets when he was younger and had instantly taken to him. Draco's parents had raised him as their own, and for that Theo owed and loved Draco greatly.

Not to say that he bent _that way_ of course, Theo had a way with the ladies. Draco swore he could charm his way under the skirts of a nun.

Lifting an eyebrow, Draco replied "Checking the weather like I do every morning?"

Theo yawned and leaned on the mast "I have no idea how you wake up so early"

"Little thing called discipline, T"

Theo yawned again and slid to the floor "Whatever, Ima just..." his words trailed off

Draco shook his head in exasperation before turning back to the bow. Theodore was definitely not a morning person.

Slowly as the sun rose above the water, the crew started waking and climbing up on deck. By the time the sun was half way up the sky, the deck and bridge were full of shouting sailors.

Looking up, Draco saw that Theo had taken his position in the crows nest. He lifted a hand in greeting before jumping off of where he had been standing on the railing of the ship.

He passed several of his crew as he made his way to the the stern of the boat. They were bustling around, each dressed in leather drawstring pants and loose white shirts with long sleeves. Some of them wore scuffed hats, and all of them were armed with daggers and swords.

When he reached the stern, the man behind the wheel greeted him.

"Morn' Cap'n"

B. Jones was a gruff man of few words, but when he did speak he gave insightful advice, that and his amazing seaman skills had quickly earned himself a position on Draco's ship. He was one of his most trusted advisers, and was one of the other two men who could properly run a ship, the other being Adrian Pucey.

"Fine day, eh Draco?"

Think of the devil and he shall appeared.

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Adrian appear. The man was climbing up from below deck, a grin playing on his features.

As friendly as the man seemed, he annoyed Draco to no end. He was second in command of _The Black Pearl_ yet he acted as if the ship belonged to him. He often gave orders without consulting Draco, and just last months he had almost got them sucked in a whirlpool because he didn't think to ask Draco if they had repaired the sails yet.

_Pompous idiot._

"Fine" came Draco short reply.

Adrian lifted an eyebrow.

Okay, so the day was more than fine, it was magnificent. The sun was partially covered by clouds, the waves were calm and there was a steady breeze to fill the sails.

"Just fine?"

"Yes, just fine"

Adrian blinked before turning around and walking towards to bow of the boat.

"You should be more acceptin'."

Draco turned around in surprise when Jones spoke behind him. "He's an idiot."

Two white eyebrows lifted.

Draco huffed. "He is!"

Jones sighed, "'e's quite capable, Draco. He makes 'istakes, but we all do. Ye have to learn to accept that."

Draco was about make a comment about how Adrian's "capability" almost got them drowned a month ago when an attention grabbing cry rang out from the crow's nest.

"Waterlings ahoy!" 

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_A/N: I know, this is a hideously short chapter, but I just wanted to give you guys a little feel for Draco's personality, and introduce a few characters so that thats out of the way. Next chapter is longer with a lot more action, and it'll also introduce Hermione into the mix. Anyone have any ideas on what she'll look like? ;P_

_Reviews are love!_

_See you soon, _

_Queen of Faerie_


	3. Gold

Recap:

Draco was about make a comment about how Adrian's "capability" almost got them drowned a month ago when an attention grabbing cry rang out from the crow's nest.

"Waterlings ahoy!"

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Draco's head whipped towards the bow of the ship. There was a split moment of silence when every man on ship paused, and then they heard it.

The splashing of tails.

Every man sprang into action. A few of their main hunters grabbed their harpoons and nets, when the rest hurried to finish preparing the ship. They unrolled the sails and tied up the lines as fast as they could, but not fast enough for Draco.

"Weigh anchor now!" he roared

Three men rushed to lift the heavy metal anchor out of the salty water. Draco went over to help his men with the sails and as he did he caught sight of something glinting on the horizon.

Draco looked around before his eyes landed on the mast. He ran up to it and jumped up a solid few feet into the air before grabbing onto the mast. He quickly scaled it, his powerful arms holding him up. When he felt like he was high enough, he stopped and looked out at the sea only to get his breath swept away.

There was a huge school of Waterlings a little way off. They were splashing and playing, their colorful tails glinting in the morning sun.

Draco's eyes widened, he looked down at the mess of sailors that were on his ship and shouted down impatiently "There is a huge school of Waterlings straight ahead, they haven't even seen us yet. So I want the sails up and the anchor lifted right now goddamnit!"

Every man instantly doubled his efforts and speed, and soon the ship was catching the strong breeze and heading towards to school of Waterlings.

But as their luck would have it the Waterlings soon spotted them, and their cries filled the air as the tailed creatures quickly dived beneath the waves.

Draco swore under his breath, they had been spotted a long while off, and there were no rocks or cliffs near by. Although the ship quickly cut through the waves and the sailors were soon breathing down the necks of the Waterlings, they quickly dived deeper, too deep for the sailor's harpoons to reach.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair in annoyance as he scan the horizon. A near-by reef caught his eye and he turned around to shout at Jones "Herd them into the reefs, they'll be forced to swim higher!"

Jones nodded his understand before spinning the wheel strongly to the left. Two men threw hooks at the Waterlings on the right side of the ship to force them to swim into circle of coral.

As Draco predicted, as the Waterlings swam into the reef, they were forced to swim higher to avoid being cut by the sharp coral. Draco grabbed his harpoon and ran to the bow of the ship. He leaned over the railings and observed the creatures splashing in the water. Draco hated this aspect of his life but it was do or die. Bellatrix was a sick women, she demanded that Waterlings be caught, killed and stuffed for her trophy room. Draco felt like he was going to hurl whenever he saw the assortment of hair, fur, claws, wings and tails. But it was necessary that he do this, so Draco raised his harpoon and scanned the waters for a suitable kill.

And then he saw her.

She was absolutely mesmerizing.

She had long chestnut brown hair that reached her hip and her eyes were deep pools of chocolate. And her tail. He'd seen his share of Waterlings in his life, all with beautiful tails of the shades of the rainbow, but he'd never seen one with a golden tail. It was beautiful, the shade of the purest gold lying in the the midday sun. How it glinted and glittered in the sun as she sprang out of the water to dodge a spear thrown her way.

Suddenly, as if sensing his gaze, her head swung his head, and their eyes locked.

Stormy grey met piercing brown as the two stared at each other. Time seemed to slow down, the cries of the men intermingled with the Waterlings faded, and they stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before a wave pushed her backwards onto a rock. Her arm was cut by the sharp barnacles and the spell was broken as her crimson blood leaked into the sea and a sharp cry escaped from her lips.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened as if to call her name before he realized that he didn't know it. Another Waterling with long black hair and a navy tail swam up to her. The two clutched at each other, and they seemed to be talking furiously, the black haired one pointing beneath the waves. The golden tailed Waterling shot him another look, clutched her bleeding arm before diving under the waves with her companion. Draco's eyes widened and he leaned even further over board. He was able to see the glint of her tail under water, and was relived to see that her friend had found a hole in the wall of coral, and that they were able to wriggle through it to the safety of the deep ocean.

"Draco!" he turned around to see Adrian pulling his harpoon out of the water by the string "Help the crew out, yeh?"

Scowling in determination Draco fisted his harpoon. A pretty Elemental was not going to distract him and ultimately cost him his life. Draco took a deep breath and aimed. The release of his harpoon was followed by a sharp cry of pain, and Draco quickly starting pulling on the rope, trying to ignore the trail of red the tailed body left in the water.

A pretty Waterling was not to cost him his life.

He'd come to far to lose now.

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Hermione swam as quickly as she could after she wriggled through the coral. Her tail was a blur as she hurried to find a safe spot where they could rest.

"That was way too close!"

Hermione looked to her right to see Padma swimming besides her.

"Good thing you found the crack though"

Hermione thought back to the events that took place in the ring of coral. If Padma hadn't found an escape route they would had been speared by the sailor's harpoons or cut open by the coral.

"Damn right"

Hermione looked to her right and noticed that Padma was panting strongly as she struggled to keep up the pace.

Hermione's brows furrowed, Padma was a strong swimmer, why did she look so...

Her eyes widened. "Your tail!" she shouted, pointing at the large gash that ran down Padma's dark blue tail.

Padma stopped and looked down. Her lips parted slightly in surprise.

"I didn't even notice it! Adrenaline, I suppose" she chuckled, obviously trying to put Hermione at ease, but she couldn't hide the slight tremor in her voice.

Hermione frowned worriedly and looked around for a place where she could attend to their wounds. Her own arm was starting to bleed even more, and if they kept going Padma was might faint from blood loss. Her frown deepen when she realized that there was nowhere they could stop, Hermione was going to suggest going back up in a different direction when she saw a seaweed forest below them.

Turning to Padma, she said "If you can make it down there I can use the seaweed to bind your tail. Think you can make it?"

Padma looked down and paled slightly. The seaweed was growing right at the bottom of the sea, and although they had already swam a long way down, there was still quite a way to go. But she straitened in determination and said,

"Of course, let's go!"

And so the two Waterlings set off again, swimming to the sea bed.

The temperature dropped as they swam deeper, and soon they were shivering with their arms wrapped around their torsos. Although they were tired, hurt and cold they managed to swim to the bottom, although by that time Padma was dangerously pale and shivering violently. Hermione swam to one of the strands of seaweed and tried to pull it out, however the plant stayed firmly rooted in the sand. Hermione huffed out air determinedly before wrapping her arms around the strand and pulling. Her tail was working in overdrive and she was flushed and red, but luckily the plant soon came loose and she lurched back with the strand still in her grasp.

She swam over to Padma, who was lying on the seabed tiredly, her eyes barely open. Hermione lifted her up slightly so that she could slide the strip of seaweed underneath her tail. She carefully wrapped the seaweed around the gash, making sure that it was bound tightly.

Having done that, Hermione swam over to pull out a smaller strand of seaweed. She wrapped the strand around her arm with some difficulty, but managed to get it bound around her arm.

By that time, there was very little light filtering down, and Hermione could barely see in front of her. She swam over to Padma, who was almost asleep, and lay down beside her.

"I'm sorry"

Hermione looked over at Padma, who had tears in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked worriedly. "Does your wound hurt?"

Padma shook her head, her ebony hair drifting around her.

"I got hurt and you had to look after me even though you're hurt yourself."

Immediately, Hermione tried to refuse, but Padma cut her off.

"I know you don't think anything of it, but I know you're tired Hermione, and I'm sorry, I'm...sorry" her voice trailed off as her eyes slowly shut.

Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly leaned in to check if Padma was breathing. Luckily, she was, but very shallowly.

Hermione sighed and lay back on the seabed, and soon, her eyes slid shut too.

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Hermione opened her eyes blearily a few hours later. It was still very dark, but Hermione could still just barely see her surroundings. She looked around her, taking in the tall strands of seaweed and murky water before her mind caught up with the events that had taken place hours before. She looked to her right to see Padma still sleeping peacefully on her side. Hermione rubbed her face before swimming over to the clutter of seaweed. She had finished pulling a fresh strand for Padma and was about to pull one for herself when she heard Padma speak up behind her.

"What time is it?"

Hermione looked behind her with a look of surprise on her face "Oh! You're up" she said, stating the obvious.

Padma swept her long dark hair out of her face and shrugged.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked as she turned back to pull out the small strand of seaweed.

"Fine, it aches a little but I think I'll be okay"

Hermione nodded and swam over to Padma. She unwrapped the dark green strand from around Padma's dark tail and leaned closer to inspect the damage.

The gash had stopped bleeding, but the edges of it were ragged, and some of her scales were coming loose. But at least it was better than a few hours ago.

Hermione wrapped the fresh strand of seaweed around Padma's tail before picking up her own.

"I'll help you"

Hermione nodded and let Padma's nimble fingers untie the messy knot and pull the seaweed loose. She carefully wrapped the new strand around Hermione's arm and tied it neatly.

Hermione smiled at her before lifting her head up.

"We have to swim up again so that we can see what time it is and get a sense of direction"

Padma nodded grimly. "Then we better get swimming"

The two Waterlings swam up the trench that they had swam down just a few hours ago with difficulty, but they were better rested and soon their strong tails pushed their heads above the surface of the water.

The sun was beginning it's descent from the sky, and daylight was starting to fade.

"It's early afternoon"

Hermione nodded before saying "We could still make it back before the dark sets in"

Padma blew out air before nodding.

And so the two Waterlings dived under the waves again, tails barley making a splash as they reentered their home domain.

As she swam Hermione thought of the mysterious human sailor who she was seen, the one with eyes like a storm cloud and hair like a blade. He was a human sailor, and probably dangerous but somewhere deep, deep in her heart, she wished to meet him again soon.

If she only knew how deeply their fates were intertwined.

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A/N: So, I thought this was a pretty good place to leave it at. So, we meet Hermione at last, what do you think of her? I thought that she needed a companion, so I made Padma a Waterling too. I was going to make Ginny one, but I changed my mind, don't worry she's still in the plot, but as a different Elemental ;) Let's see if you guys can guess what. But seriously, if I have to write the word 'strip' or 'seaweed' again, I am going to go crazy :P

See you soon,

Queen of Faerie


	4. Relentless

Draco ran a hand through his long hair in frustration. There was a pile of Waterlings on deck, and and he could tell just from looking at it that it wasn't enough.

"Draco?"

He turned around to see Theo standing behind him wringing his hands nervously.

"How many?"

Theo winced at his tone. "11" he anwered.

"Damn!" Draco swore and slammed his fist against the mast. Theo cringed at the loud bang and hurried to catch up with Draco, who had started to walk away.

"It's not so bad" he said quickly, "I mean, we still have our last catch to add to it"

Draco swung around to face him "And how much did we catch last time?" his tone was almost mocking

Theo hung his head "Seven"

Draco let out a loud bark of laughter "And that makes 18 Waterlings. Queen Bellatrix is going to mount our heads" he said bitterly

Draco saw the look on Theo's face and sighed, "Sorry. You know I didn't mean to-"

"I know" Theo said shortly.

Draco closed his eyes in frustration as Theo walked away. He seriously needed to improve on not snapping at random people when he was mad. He sighed and climbed up the ladder to quarterdeck.

He tapped Jones on the shoulder. The old man turned towards him and raised an eyebrow.

"We need to hunt down that school of Waterlings"

Jones sighed and opened his mouth but Draco cut him off.

"I know what you're going to say, but hear me out." Draco said "We have two weeks, maybe less, to catch atleast ten Waterlings, and there's no way we're going to luck out like we did today and happen upon a giant school of Waterlings. We have to follow that school and hunt them down, it's the only way to catch enough Waterlings."

Jones sighed again but swung the ship around anyway, towards to direction where they had last seen the surviving Waterlings head towards last.

Draco scanned the horizon, the sun's rays was making the waves glitter and sparkle. He thought of the Waterling with cinnamon eyes and a golden tail and turned to face his crew.

"Weigh anchor! We sail south!"

A loud cry rose from the ship as all men onboard scurried to set sail.

Draco looked out at sea again, a question lying heavily on his mind.

_What am I going to do when I find her?_

"Why have you two been?!"

Hermione internally sighed at the greeting she got as she and Padma swam through the hole in the stone cliff face. Inside was a giant chamber. Long strands of seaweed hung from the ceiling, and furniture made from stone or gathered from human ship wreaks was arranged around the room.

"Don't make me repeat myself! Where have you two been?"

Hermione turned around to glare at the female Waterling who was yelling at them. She was a short stocky type of person with ginger hair and an orange tail. Her face was marked with wrinkles and her mouth was currently set in an angry scowl.

Hermione opened her mouth to explain but was rudely cut off.

"I've told you many times before; don't stay out until dark falls! Honestly, I don't know what my boy sees in you!"

Hermione snapped back angrily,"How dare you, Molly! How dare you berate us for coming back late but not enough noticing that we are injured?!"

Molly flinched back and shot a confused look at Padma, who was currently sitting in one of the stone chairs, breathing heavily.

Hermione went on "We were with the Clearwater clan when we got run down by pirates. They cornered us into a reef, and we barely made it out. We were both cut heavily by the coral, and Padma got speared through her tail with a harpoon!"

Molly gasped and opened her mouth but Hermione wasn't done yet.

"We swam down and bound our injuries with seaweed and stopped to rest. We have been swimming for hours! Hours, Molly! We are hurt and tired, and the least you could do would be to not nag at us and jump to conclusions!"

Her speach was followed by an astonished silence in which the two Waterlings stared at each other. Molly was the first to break the silence.

"Well, you didn't need to yell at me like that" she said indignatly.

Hermione looked at her astonishedly and opened her mouth to argue some more, but decided against it and instead swam through the hole in the ceiling.

_That woman is crazy._ She thought to herself.

She swam through the tunnels of the cave until at last she reached her room. She pushed open the door and swam through. She barely made it to her bed before collapsing on it. She lay on her back as she watched her hair float around her face in the slight current that passed through her open door.

She lay there for some time before swimming over to close the wooden oor. She unbound the strand of seaweed around her arm and breathed a relieved sigh when she saw that it wasn't bleeding anymore.

She swam over to her bed and lay down on it. Her exuashtion finally caught up with her and she quickly fell asleep dreaming of silver haired sailors.

_A week later_

Draco paced infront of the main mast agitatedly. Currently, they were anchored near Blackwell, a town well known for it's fish trade and pickpockets. He turned around to face the town and ran a hand through his hair. He frowned when he spotted a rowboat heading from the town.

God, if it was another silly group of girls trying to catch a glimpse of him he swore that he would shoot them all. But as the rowboat got closer Draco saw that it was not a group of girls, but some of his crew who were approaching him.

_Finally._ Draco thought, He grabbed a line and threw it overboard. One of the men in the rowboat caught it and used it to pull the rowboat closer to the ship. Once they got a hold of the ladder they each started climbing on board. The first person to emerge was Jones, his hair matted and tangled and his clothes wet with sea water.

Draco pulled him over the rails quickly, the momentum almost causing Jones to fall face first.

"Did they see anything? Did they? Talk to me!" Draco asked the moment the older man steadied himself.

Jones glared. "Give me a moment, will ya? The steps ain't as easy ta climb as when I was a lad" he said, breathing roughly.

Draco laughed but rolled a barrel closer for the old man to sit on.

"So? Did they see anything?" Draco may have pulled up a seat but that didn't mean that he was going to let Jones rest long.

Said man internally sighed and braced himself for another long day of sailing.

"Ya, they did. A couple 'a fishermen saw two Waterlings a week or so ago, one with brown hair and a glittering gold tail, the other with long ebony hair and a navy tail. Draco, lad-" Jones tried to keep talking but Draco's excitement was a force to be reckoned with.

"Yes! I knew it, we're getting closer. I think we're closing up on their location. The last few towns we asked around said that they've seen Waterlings come up quite frequently. We have to keep going!"

Jones sighed "Draco, our men are exhausted, we have to rest here for the night"

Draco frowned "But we're catching up! We have to keep going!"

"Draco, listen ta reason" Jones said "Ya've driven us like slaves this past week, when was the last time ya slept?"

Draco sighed and rubbed his head. "Fine, we rest here for the night, but I want us gone from this place before midday tomorrow."

Jones nodded "Go get some sleep, lad, you look like you just lost a fist fight"

Chuckling, Jones turned away and headed down to the galley.

Draco leaned on the railing and stared out at the horizon. He stared at a school of fish below the surface of the water and hung his head, golden Waterlings swimming through his mind.

Hermione groggily opened her eyes. Light was streaming through the small holes in her stone ceiling, illuminating her small room.

She watched lazily as a small blue fish swam through one of the holes, it's tiny body wriggling as it propelled itself forward. She frowned and sat up. _Speaking of blue..._

Hermione swam over to her door and opened it. She slowly swam down the stone corridor, her whole body aching from swimming so hard yesterday. She reached a dome shaped room and swam through the hole in the floor that led to the living room chamber.

She found Padma sitting on one of the stone chairs. She was clutching at the table awkwardly instead of sitting with her tail curled arround the chair because her tail had been wrapped in what looked like three entire rolls of bandages. Hermione instantly swam over to her, ignoring Molly, who was watching disaprovingly.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Padma nodded "I'm fine. I just need a bit of rest and I'll be swimming normally again"

Hermione was about to comment on Padma's pale face when a male Waterling swam down the hole through the ceiling.

"Hermy!" Suddenly, Hermione found herself pressed against the stone floor with a large body pressed on top of hers. She gasped as pain shot down her arm and thumped at the chest of the man above to let her go.

"Ron" she gasped with tears in her eyes, "My arm...please"

He let go of her and pushed off the stone floor, his orange tail swinging side to side.

Hermione sat up and cradled her arm gingerly and stared in dismay at the wound. It had re-opened and was bleeding feriously.

She glared at Ron. His long ginger was floating around his round face, and his short tail was working feriously to keep his overweight body upright.

"Hermy?" he asked stupidly.

"I told you not to call me that" she snapped at him. He blinked.

"Do not speak to my son like that!" Molly raised her voice at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Molly narrowed her eyes at her "You better brush up on your manners if you want to marry my Ronniekins"

"How many times to do I have tell you, Molly? I don't want to marry Ron!" Hermione snapped.

Suddenly, everyone in the room quieted. Hermione's face drained of all color when she realized what she had said.

Molly's face was flushed an ugly red-purple color. She grabbed Hermione by the arm and pulled her out of the room into a private chamber. Hermione winced, Molly had taken a hold of her cut left arm and her fingers were digging into her bruised flesh painfully.

Molly pushed her into a room and closed the door behind them. Hermione barely had time to blink before Molly started shouting.

"How dare you? How dare you disrepect me like that?" Molly raged.

Hermione hung her head and rubbed her red wrist. Molly went on.

"We took you in! We took you in when no one wanted you! When your own parents didn't want you! We raised you and fed you and treated you like family and you dare go against my wishes?"

"That's not true!" Hermione yelled back. "My parents didn't desert me, they were hunted down!"

Molly laughed, a high pitched mocking sound "Thats what you think. But when we found you there was a note tied around your wrist. I'm sure you can imagine what it said"

Hermione reeled back "You're lying" she said, her voice wavering.

Molly sneered at her "You wish." she said "You owe your life to me, if my son wants your disgusting body, he can have it."

"Please," Hermione begged "Don't do this to me. I can't stand him. I can't stand _this_"

Molly turned her back.

Stifling a sob, Hermione opened the door and swam out of the room, She ignored Ron and Padma's questions swam out of the cave. Tears flowing freely now, she swam up towards the surface, her only destination, _away_.

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A/N: I am so so so so sorry for the long wait! School has started again and the flow of homework has begun. I was tempted to upload half the chapter but I think waiting a while was better, yes? Anyway, tell me what you think. Next chapter will be awesome, see if you can guess what happens :P

Also, shout out to Phoenixfiregirl157 and Ramyfan for reviewing.

Until next time,

_Queen of Faerie_


	5. Encounter

Draco rubbed his face blearily as he climbed up on deck. The sun had just peaked over the horizon and the morning mist was starting to rise. A seagull cried as it flew overhead, fluttered down and perched on the railing. Draco waved his arms and the seagull flapped its wings and flew away with an indignant cry. He leaned on the railing and stared out at the sea. He sighed impatiently as he stared at the sun which had barely peaked over the horizon.

On an impulsive whim, Draco decided to row ashore and take a shower.

* * *

Hermione parted the surface of the water, coughing as the gills behind her ear adjusted to the dry air. She peered around the clearing that she had just emerged into. The lake that she was floating in was surrounded by trees. The only way to reach it was to swim through an underwater tunnel which made it an ideal place to be by herself or with friends as the tunnel was too dark and long for an human to reach. Right now, however, she was hoping to run into someone.

Hermione swam over to an outcrop of rocks and hauled herself onto the warm stone. She scanned the trees around her but she could see nothing other than a few land animals. She was about to lean back and close her eyes when she heard the soft fluttering of feathered wings. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Luna!"

The Windling fluttering above her smiled softly in response. Her wings were a pure ivory color with light blue at the tips. Her long, pale blonde hair was floating in the small breeze her wings created. She was dressed in normal Windling attire; a soft cotton shift tinged with the colors of her wings, in this case, Luna's shift was white with blue around the sleeves and hemmed with a bare back so that her wings could beat freely. Around her neck and wrists she wore necklaces and bracelets with all manners of trinkets tied to them, stones, leaves, and a few small human things like a tiny figurine.

Luna floated down closer to Hermione and the two Elementals embraced eagerly.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" Hermione exclaimed.

One of Luna's pale eyebrows rose as she landed softly on the rock.

"I can't exactly meet you under the sea, you know."

Hermione blushed and she tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear.

"I've been busy sorting things out with Molly.." she mumbled. "Plus, we were almost taken by pirates!"

Luna nodded solemnly "We heard about that, we were so worried!"

Hermione grinned at Luna. "My tail's never failed me before."

The two Elementals quickly fell into easy conversation after that, catching up on past activities.

"I can't believe he did that!" Hermione laughed, clutching her sides.

Luna grinned "Are you really?"

Hermione smiled and shook her head playfully "Nope, it's not the first time a guy has done something stupid for Fleur."

Luna stretched out her wings and replied, "It's not like she notices anyway, she's still teaching Gabrielle to fly"

Hermione smiled warmly at the memory of meeting Fleur's little sister. She was a tiny little thing with white and light blue wings like her sister and the same easy beauty. She had been very young and not able to fly in strong winds, and she had clutched fiercely at her older sister's hand to stop from blowing away.

Hermione was about to make another comment when she heard a twig snap behind her. Both girls froze; Luna crouched with her wings parted, ready to lift off if needed while Hermione slid partially into the water, prepping her tail to dive.

But their concern was all for nothing because at the next moment the person who barged through the undergrowth was not a human, but an Earthling.

"Harry!" Hermione cried happily.

Harry's bright green eyes located her in the water and a smile instantly broke out on his face.

She beamed up at him. Harry was an Earthling with dark bronze skin and green eyes, his mess of black hair was adorned with a pair of strong antlers that branched out into a huge crown. Like most male Earthlings, his arms and legs were strong and wiry, made for prancing and running and covered with a thin layer of hair all over. They had met many years ago when Hermione had still been quite young and shy, and they'd been friends ever since.

Harry leaned down to pull her out of the water, barely minding her weight.

"Where are Seamus and Dean?" she exclaimed, looking around.

Seamus and Dean were two other Earthlings that Harry lived with, Seamus being a hare Earthling with soft brown fur and ears while Dean was a dark skinned panther who had slightly thicker hair than the others with fully elongated claws and tail.

"Forgetting all about me already?" Harry asked, feigning sadness.

Hermione laughed and shook her head, patting the spot beside her. He sat down where she indicated and dangled his feet in the lake, his slitted green eyes looking her over.

"What happened to you over the past month? We have seen you in ages."

Hermione turned towards him "Didn't you hear about the pirates?"

Harry nodded. "But you usually don't stay away so long, even then."

Hermione reached into the lake to scoop some water over her tail and answered, "Well, I was tired and hurt and all so I decided to rest-"

She was cut off by Luna's and Harry's cry of surprise.

"You were hurt?" Luna asked worriedly. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Hermione shrugged, playing with the ends of her hair. "It healed up pretty well, and I didn't want to bother anyone by sending a message to you guys..."

Luna and Harry exchanged a look.

"You need to speak up for yourself, you shouldn't let Molly walk all over you like that" Harry said.

Luna nodded in agreement.

Hermione sighed and opened her mouth but was interrupted by a huge red mass flying at her.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed, all but tackling her.

Hermione flew back several inches as Ginny barreled into her for a bear hug. Although the movement jolted her arm and sent a sharp bolt of pain up to her shoulder, she clung tightly to her closest friend, breathing in Ginny's comforting smell of ashes and daisies.

Ginny was a Fireling who had been the one to introduce Hermione to the others, they had met one day when Hermione was brave enough to swim up a stream near the village, hoping to find some mortal trinkets but instead encountering a Fireling girl. Her hair was a bright orange red, like the brightest of bonfires, and her eyes glowed and waned like the embers of a fire pit.

Ginny leant back and the group of Elementals fell quickly into old routine and caught up with each other as the sun rose higher in the sky.

"See you soon!" Hermione said as she waved, her tail working to keep her upper body out of the water while propelling her backwards.

"You better visit!" Ginny yelled, her glowing hair waving. In the breeze, Luna waved from where she hovered in the air, wings flapping lightly, Harry was standing on the rock she had sat on, his emerald green eyes twinkling as he too waved at her.

She smiled at them one last time before, with a flick of her tail, disappearing under the water.

As she swam through the cave she noticed that it was still fairly dark. She surfaced near a cliff face and raised her eyes to observe the sky. The sun had emerged over the horizon fully but it was still dark out, seeing as winter was coming which meant that most of the humans would still be asleep. Making an impulsive decision she decided to head up a little river near a clearing far from the village.

She dived under the waves again, her golden tail quickly propelling her through the currents.

* * *

Draco's thoughts wandered as he waded through the stream.

He had walked through the village looking for a possible place to wash, but the small ponds that he had been directed to by the villagers had been shallow, muddy, and probably would have made him dirtier.

Finally however, a nervous boy had told him of a stream in the forest behind the village. When Draco wondered why he hadn't been sent there before, the boy told him that a few villagers had seen a strange shape in the stream from time to time, and that they thought that it was cursed.

Draco laughed as he recalled the expression with which the boy had told him this. Here he was in the stream and the waters were clear and cool, but there wasn't a single shape to be seen, save for a few small fish. He reached down to scoop water over his head and sighed. The water was deliciously cool and he could feel himself relaxing as the water flowed down his bare chest and washed off some of the grime from his body. He heard a splash behind him and he turned around to see what had disturbed him.

His entire world froze.

There in the stream, was a Waterling with a golden tail.

For what seemed like hours, the two of them merely stared at each other.

Draco was mesmerized. She was even more beautiful up close.

Her heart shaped face was small and delicate, large eyes adorned with long eyelashes. Her soft pink lips were parted in surprise and he could barely see the gills behind her ear flapping as her body got accustomed to breathing air.

Her hair was longer than he had thought, cascading down her shoulders to cover her bare breasts.

Draco gulped.

All of this Draco noticed in a split second, because in the next instant she had turned around and with a splash of her tail, she was gone.

"Wait!" Draco cried, but it was too late, her figure soon disappeared down the river with two flicks of her golden tail.

Draco staggered over to the side of the river and slumped onto the ground heavily, disbelief and awe taking over all his emotions.

* * *

Hermione swam as fast as she could beneath the waves.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, she thought to herself

_You saw the damn boat, Hermione. You saw the damn gigantic boat in the harbor, and what did you do? You ignored it! Of course it was a sailor's ship, what the hell kind of fishing boat has three masts and a figure head?_

Her tail was beginning to ache from how fast she was swimming, but she swam on anyway.

How could she have been so stupid? She had been so eager to meet up with her friends and get away from Molly that she had barely glanced at the boat anchored some way in the bay instead of recognizing it for what it was.

And now _he_ was here!

She finally stopped swimming as the pain in the tail became too much to bear. She simply drifted for a moment, her mind flooded with her encounter just moments ago.

She shook her head furious and began swimming again, determined to wash the memory of the grey eyed sailor from her mind.

By the time Hermione reached the cave her tail was cramped from her excessive swimming. She slumped against the rock face rest briefly before pushing her weight against the boulder and swimming through the crack. She ignored Ron, who was sitting in the living room, and swam up to her room. She closed the door behind her and collapse on the bed, sore all over.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

_'Stupid stupid stupid' _she thought to herself as she thought back to the encounter.

Of course the person who had seen her had to be the person who was hunting her down. She knew that the ship must have followed them, there was no way they stumbled upon this tiny little village in an area where a school of Waterlings lived. They must have followed the Waterlings who escaped.

She thought of the man she had seen. He had bronze skin and the palest hair she had ever seen, although it was closer to the pale silver of Luna's trinkets than the pure white of the clouds. His eyes were a light grey, and in the split second they had locked gazes she had felt like her heart had skipped a beat. He was bare chested, and the water had clung to his thin breeches, clinging and outlining...

She shook her head wildly. He was a sailor. He was a hunter. He was a murderer.

A handsome sailor was not going to cost her life.

She'd come too far to lose now.

**A/N: **Anyone still out there? So sorry for the long wait but atleast it's up now right? I promise to try harder although you really shouldn't hold me to that...Anyway, please leave a review and tell me your thoughts, cookies to the person who catches the phrase that I reused :D

Until next time,

_Queen of Faerie_

PS. Would you guys be interested in a Tumblr account where I post story ideas and inspirations? I could have a prompt submit thingy post exclusive story exerts and inspiration art. Tell me what you think 3 :D


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